Internet debate explodes over Apple's Tim Cook

In the 24 hours since Apple CEO Tim Cook announced he is gay, the topic has dominated China's social media, with variations of the term "Apple CEO Tim Cook Comes out of the Closet" being used more than 24.3 million times by Friday afternoon.

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Also by that time, the search engine Baidu.com showed 796,000 pages with the words "Cook came out" and the topic #Apple CEO Cook came out# was still the No 1 hot topic on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter-like microblogging site, with 24 million reads and 51,000 discussion groups.

Cook's announcement comes as a surprise to many due to his well-known penchant for privacy. While never openly addressing his sexuality, it was reportedly known among Apple watchers and tech industry insiders that the CEO was gay.

"For years, I've been open with many people about my sexual orientation. Plenty of colleagues at Apple know I'm gay, and it doesn't seem to make a difference in the way they treat me. Of course, I've had the good fortune to work at a company that loves creativity and innovation and knows it can only flourish when you embrace people's differences. Not everyone is so lucky," Cook wrote in Bloomberg Businessweek.

"While I have never denied my sexuality, I haven't publicly acknowledged it either, until now. So let me be clear: I'm proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me."

According to a Deloitte report, 83 percent of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people hide aspects of their identity at work. In his Businessweek column, Cook said his coming out was meant to help others.

"I don't consider myself an activist, but I realize how much I've benefited from the sacrifice of others. So if hearing that the CEO of Apple is gay can help someone struggling to come to terms with who he or she is, or bring comfort to anyone who feels alone, or inspire people to insist on their equality, then it's worth the trade-off with my own privacy," Cook wrote.

China online reaction to Cook's outing in China has been deafening, but the effect it has on Apple sales is yet to be felt.

Apple has had a successful fiscal year brought about by the release of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. According to fiscal reports released by the Cupertino-based company, Apple reported quarterly revenues of $42.1 billion. As of closing bell on Thursday, Apple's stock price remained largely unchanged at $106.98 per share.